Taiwan panel industry transforms by riding the AI wave into microLED optical communications

DIGITIMES observes that with the rise of AI servers, copper-cable transmission is increasingly unable to meet rising bandwidth and energy-efficiency requirements, making the shift from copper to optics a key industry trend. Optical interconnect technologies can be broadly categorized by transmission distance into three types: CW-DFB, VCSEL, and microLED.

The first two rely on laser sources and lag behind microLED in terms of cost, lifespan, power consumption, and thermal resilience. Consequently, microLED-based optical communications are poised to become the mainstream solution for in-rack data transmission.

At present, Taiwanese firms lead globally in both microLED display technology and mass production capabilities, particularly in mass transfer alignment accuracy and microLED die density, which strongly supports their expansion into optical communications. To enhance competitiveness in the optical communications sector, Taiwanese players are actively building vertically integrated microLED optical communication supply chains spanning dies, photodetectors, and packaging processes.